8 Must Read Novels in Verse: A Visual Bibliography









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REVIEW: Where the Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan

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Where the Heart Should Be by Carnegie Medal winning author Sarah Crossan, is an historical fiction novel written in verse. Set in 1840s Ireland during the events of the Irish Potato Famine, the novel follows Nell, a teenaged girl who works as a scullery maid to help support her impoverished family. Despite her poverty, Nell is intelligent and loves to read poetry. When Johnny, the nephew of the evil English lord, arrives as heir apparent at the ‘Big House,’ he and Nell fall in love despite the cultural and class divisions that separate them. The novel includes romance between Nell and Johnny, elements of Irish folklore such as magpies and banshees, historical realities such as the fraught relationship between the Irish and the English, and thriller elements as Nell and her father attempt to save themselves and others from starvation.  The tone of the novel is tense and introspective as we follow stoic Nell during the Irish Potato Famine. The plot begins slowly, introducing the his...
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REVIEW: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

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Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a critically acclaimed memoir written in verse. Winner of the 2014 National Book Award, a Newberry Honor Book, winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award and a Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Century, Woodson’s memoir traces her childhood as she grows up in South Carolina and New York City. At the heart of the story is Woodson’s family: her restless mother searching for a sense of home, her gifted sister, her faithful Jehovah's Witness grandmother, and her kind but stubborn grandfather, all of whom shape her understanding of life and the world around her. The backdrop of the memoir is the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement and the everyday racism Woodson and her family experience.  Woodson’s tone throughout the memoir is lyrical and reflective as she expertly evokes the hazy nostalgia of a Southern childhood with descriptions of sticky, summer heat and the sounds of crickets singing her to sleep. Her style is conversational...
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REVIEW: World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from The Metropolitan Museum

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World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins in partnership with Metropolitan Museum of Art, includes exclusive poems from eighteen poets to pair with classic works of art. The compilation is centered around a quote from the introduction:   “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” Leonardo da Vinci   This poetry collection features poems from well-known contemporary poets for young readers, including: Alma Flor Ada Cynthia Cotten Rebecca Kai Dotlich Julie Fogliano Charles Ghigna Joan Bransfield Graham Lee Bennett Hopkins Irene Latham J. Patrick Lewis Elaine Magliaro Guadalupe Garcia McCall Marilyn Nelson Naomi Shihab Nye Ann Whitford Paul Marilyn Singer Amy Ludwig VanDerwater Carole Boston Weatherford Janet Wong The original poems in World Make Way are written in response to a diverse range of art from different time periods, cultures and art forms ...
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